Juanita Khumalo was inspired to create her own fitness brand after taking on the mental challenge of losing weight and maintaining a healthy lifestyle.
Friday is World Obesity Day and the 31-year-old Johannesburg-based fitness entrepreneur spoke to Sowetan about her tough health and entrepreneurial journey.
“I was eating a lot of junk food and I was not in the right space mentally. I was emotionally eating and going through a tough break-up,” she said.
In 2018 Khumalo became 15kg overweight while also suffering from depression, anxiety and insomnia.
“There was a day when I looked at pictures of myself and I couldn’t recognise the woman staring back at me. I loved that woman, however she had gained 15kg of weight, and she was sad, broken and unhappy,” she said.
She started making better food choices and walking more to exercise but still needed professional help.
“A year later I was diagnosed with depression, anxiety and insomnia. This made me realise that we normally focus only on diet and exercise and not a holistic look including mental health. Obesity is often caused because of mental illness or because of an underlying issue like trauma. Food is a tool people use to cope.”
Khumalo said she started taking medication and going to therapy and this helped her get her life on track. She worked as a brand manager for beauty giant L’Oreal at the time and decided to resign to focus on building her own brand, Trove Wellness.
“I realised that this is a journey I want to take and touch people’s lives,” she said.
She started Trove Wellness in 2019 to help other women to become healthier physically and mentally and help people realise that healthy food can be affordable.
“Trove Wellness is an online platform where we write articles on diet and fitness, we have a directory to find a specialist like a nutritionist. I have also developed a programme called detox with Jua where women come together to get healthier by cooking using a guideline and this is shared on social media as well as a boot camp that runs twice a year,” she said.
Her success over the past three years has been monumental with her detox programme growing from 1,500 subscribers to 10,000.
“My first boot camp had 50 people and now 600 people sign up for it. I’m grateful to God for this opportunity and that I am trusted by these women and that I can be a vehicle for change,” said Khumalo.
In future, she wants to host her fitness programme in smaller towns in SA and to infiltrate the rest of the African market.
“I want to make fitness and wellness accessible and launch a wellness centre that is safe for women and where they can bring their children,” said Khumalo.
Affordable healthy foods to incorporate in your diet:
• Tinned pilchards are relatively affordable and are a good source of protein.
• Chicken pieces, chicken livers and feet are filled with protein.
• Cabbage is a cheap vegetable packed with vitamins that can be used in stir fries and salads.
• Whole-wheat carbohydrates such as pasta, bread and rice are good alternatives to white carbohydrates.
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